Close to You
by cifling
Summary: Eroica becomes intimate with the Major.


Disclaimer: Based on the 'From Eroica With Love' anime, the characters are not mine.

Title: Close To You

Usually Major Klaus Heinz von dem Eberbach could rely on his keen sense of duty waking him before his alarm clock, but this morning he was sleeping the sleep of the deeply exhausted and it took several minutes before the shrill tone of the alarm penetrated through the fog. As soon as the sound registered his reflexes kicked in, and he was able to reach out and slam a hand onto the alarm clock, killing the noise immediately.  
Klaus had only just returned from a mission that had appeared to entail slogging through most of the swamps of Albania, and had spent the previous afternoon and evening in debriefing. He wanted nothing more than to slip back into unconsciousness, but the Chief had called a meeting for first thing this morning. His superior had been apologetic but claimed that the next mission was on a tight timetable and required Klaus' particular attention. Even Klaus' most vicious glare had only been met with a jovial smile, which he imagined had been laced with sadistic glee.

He pushed back the covers and swung his legs over the side, wincing at his complaining muscles. He had been able to get a shower at work yesterday, but he really wanted to soak for at least an hour in a deep,  
steaming bath. There was no chance of that this morning, but another hot shower would help. He gritted his teeth, stood and walked to the bathroom, closing the door behind him. Quarter of an hour later he came out feeling marginally more human. Although he had dried off in the bathroom, he modestly kept a towel wrapped around his waist even in the privacy of his own rooms. It only took him a moment to choose a grey suit, white shirt and discreetly-patterned tie from his wardrobe. The sombre colours he preferred rarely needed any consideration as to whether they matched.

Still moving almost mechanically he opened the drawer which held his underwear. He glanced down and was startled fully awake by the jumble of colour that met his eyes. He slid the drawer shut and took a deep calming breath. His exhaustion must have been worse than he thought, he was beginning to hallucinate. Cautiously he eased the drawer out again,  
but blinking his eyes and shaking his head refused to make the frivolity before him disappear. Where before had resided neat piles of chaste white and sober grey briefs, there was now a brazen collection of material that he could barely recognise as clothing. Gold lame lay next to red satin, leopard-print jostled pink lace, forest-green watered silk flowed over pastel blue chiffon. His regard skated over the chaos and found a small oasis of white which he grabbed. The colour was the only modest attribute of the thing he held up. The front was a small triangle in some kind of lycra, and as he turned it around, it appeared that the back didn't exist at all, there was just some kind of string. As the obscenity of the article he was holding registered, he let it drop as if it had suddenly turned into a live scorpion.

"Eroica!" he bellowed, even as he realised that the thief must be long gone.

He slammed the drawer shut with a satisfying crash and stood fuming. He tried to consider the matter calmly, but his attempts were clouded by visions of what he would do to the impudent thief when he got his hands on him. When calm consideration proved not to be achievable, he changed tack and approached the problem as an exercise in tactics. After a few moments he spun round and strode to the bathroom and the laundry hamper.  
He was usually a man of fastidious habits and would not have considered wearing the same underwear two days running, but he was also a soldier able to endure any hardship, especially if it meant winning a battle. He flung up the hamper lid and looked in to find it completely empty. The growl that echoed around the bathroom would have made any passing grizzly bear decide that there was a room to be avoided.

Returning to the bedroom, he stood in front of the clothes laid out on the bed. In theory he could proceed to dress without the benefit of underwear, but the mere idea was so depraved that his mind kept skittering away from the thought. Reluctantly he retraced his steps to the chest of drawers and pulled open the offending one. Hell lay before him, his very own kaleidoscopic, Eroica-inspired hell. Gingerly he dipped his hand into the cauldron of colours and began to pick through them. He was beginning to lose hope of finding anything remotely decent when a sliver of black appeared. Pulling it out, he found himself holding a pair of black boxers. Since the material caught on the calluses of his hands he presumed they were silk. Otherwise they were quite restrained, although as he turned them around he found a delicate pink rose bud embroidered on the placket. However, it was small enough to be ignored, particularly with time pressing, and he slipped them on,  
a shiver going through his body at the cold slipperiness of the material. It was the work of a few seconds to fling on the rest of his clothes including shoes and his ever-present shoulder holster. The feel of the boxers as he moved was unnerving, a whisper of almost there sensation. Picking up his car keys he resolved to send one of the Alphabets out to buy something respectable as soon as the meeting was over.

A murmur of voices from inside the office suggested the other participants were already there. He knocked brusquely and entered without waiting for an invitation. There was only one other person in the office apart from the Chief, and even from the back the riot of blond curls immediately identified Dorian Red, the Earl of Gloria,  
otherwise known as the thief Eroica.

Eroica stood and faced him, a delighted smile on his face. As always he was dressed in his own eccentric style, black knee-high boots, skintight cream breeches and a russian peasant tunic. Except no peasant would have been able to afford black silk, particularly with hand-embroidered rose buds at the hem.

Klaus had the sudden crystal clear thought that there was going to be a death in this office. The only question was whether he would die of mortification, or shoot Eroica on the spot.

"You pervert!" he erupted. If possible, the Earl's smile became even more delighted.

"Major!" gasped the Chief in horror, "that was completely uncalled for. Apologise immediately."

Well, that solved one problem, it would be a double homicide.

"Oh, no need for that," said Eroica. "It's all in fun. The Major and and I do have our little jokes between us." He turned and probably batted his eyelashes at the Chief, but wisely kept the chair between him and Klaus.

"Very well then. Come and sit down, Major," said the Chief.

The Earl turned back and held his eyes, so obviously not looking down, that Klaus was immediately aware of the slither of material beneath his trousers as he moved.

THE END


End file.
